Houston, TX (USA)
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Houston, TX (USA)
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I just came back from 2 1/2 weeks in Texas, mostly in Austin. I absolutely loved it. Austin is very nice, everything looks brand new and clean and shiny. Amazing.
The temperature was over 100 farenheit (39 degrees) every day. The day we left it was 44 degree celsius and when we landed in London it was 11. Talk about a difference!
I loved the Gulf Coast, we stayed in Port Aransas in Mustang Island. Miles of fine sand beaches, super hot water. Lovely and not too touristy. I fulfilled a childhood dream by visiting the NASA center in Houston. Seeing a real Saturn V rocket almost drew tears from me. IH'ers from the US, please do support NASA and write to your politicians NOT TO CUT FUNDING!
People in Texas are friendly and not at all like what media portrays them. Sure they are conservative, but they are not the moronic bible-obsessed idiots they show on TV here. People are very polite, kids hold the door to older folks, people say think you. What a difference from other areas of the US (or, sadly, EU) where it's me, me, me, and only me….
The only thing wrong about the weather there is that it was way too hot to wear pants. Next time I go, I need IH khaki shorts!
This is mitigated by the fact that there are GREAT boot makers in Texas. I visited a few of them, and two of them stand out: Lee Miller at Texas Traditions in Austin and Dave Little in San Antonio. Lee Miller's boots are a bit more subdued, while Dave's are less subdued! to say the least. Lee was an apprentice to the legendary Charlie Dunn, while Dave, who is over 80 years old, is a 3rd generation maker. He has trained his children so he can retire knowing the Little brand will survive for at least another generation. The level of craftsmanship is absolutely amazing and they both took a lot of time to show me their shop and each step of the making of these fantastic pieces of footwear.
Dave Little's site = http://www.davelittleboots.com/default.html
Lee Miller's page = http://gallery.me.com/carrlyn#gallery+1 on Mustang Island. Not only is the scenery great but you can drive your car up on the beach and set up your barbecue grill. People in that area tend to be pretty relaxed about things. My old man lives in Portland, TX between Corpus Christi and Port Aransas. I can't take the heat so I avoid visiting during the summer…
I was born in Houston and still have an uncle and grandparents there so I have a long history with the state and for the most part I agree with you. Austin is a super cool place, by far the coolest place in Texas and one of the coolest all the south. The people are very nice for the most part but there are most certainly the bible bumpers that you referred to. You just got lucky and didn't run into them, mostly because you were in some of the less conservative parts of Texas, Austin mostly. But, I am glad you enjoyed your trip, Texas is not for everyone and it does NOT represent the majority of the US so keep that in mind.
nice boots too…
@riffblaster:
I've had some great times in tejas.
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For general menswear, you could check out Mortar, down in the Montrose section of town. Lots of other little shops around that area that might be interesting, too. If you're interested in getting some really high quality shirts, you could stop in at Hamilton Shirts, perhaps the finest bespoke shirtmaker in the US. Other than that, I can't think of anything that's a "must see" sort of place. If you're looking for something specific, let me know and I'll try to help out.
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I always enjoy Del Friscos Steak house in houston just outside of the galleria. All the steaks there are amaizing. Last weekend I had the Barrel Aged Manhatten. If your a Bourbon drinker youll love it.
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I see that this board on the whole is pretty quiet, so let's liven it up a bit, eh?
Despite the city being a giant parking lot, it's not entirely without its high points. In my case, I live in the 'burbs waaaaaaay outside of anything interesting infrastructure-wise, so I had to start looking myself. (Hey, if I don't do it, ain't nobody gonna do it for me.)
In recent years, the areas near downtown have been re-gentrified by "hipster" sorts (I hate that word, but I don't really know a more succinct way of describing them). Incidentally or otherwise, a not-insignificant chunk of this crowd is also into cycles (both "motor" and "bike"), so this city is a hotbed for bikes. Some of that has bled over into clothing, so we've had a bit of an uptake on vintage clothing/etc. recently.
Notable stores on that front include:
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Reserve Supply Co. – Levi's Vintage, Railcar Fine Goods, Tellason, some motorcycle stuff as well; I know the owners are big on Barbour jackets.
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The Class Room – some stuff to be found here, though primarily a storefront for 3sixteen and N&F.
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Manready Mercantile – if you have to pick one "vintage" clothing store in H-town, this is it; the owner is also one of the gents from Knickerbocker Mfg Co, and he's got no shortage of stories to tell. Even better, if you ask nicely, you can get a freebie cocktail from their mini-bar while you browse and peruse the shelves, which you'll want to do since there's a lot of old stuff that's not listed on the website. I've found no shortage of old military flight jackets and even a few kimonos here.
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Rye 51 – this one is geared more towards dressy clothes. Will also offer cocktails while you visit.
There's no shortage of small-time coffee operations–if you're into microlot coffee, we have two notable roasters here:
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Java Pura: (no link b/c their website is down at the time of writing) – some good microlots (including Gesha), but my favorite offering is their barrel-aged coffee beans. Comes in cabernet, sauvignon blanc, or Saint Arnold's Bishop's Barrel varieties. Very interesting stuff.
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Amaya Roasting – highly recommended, though their offerings change frequently.
And I couldn't even begin to list the "indie" coffee shops (not that I'm complaining, mind).
But wait, there's more – there's plenty of microbreweries here as well. I'll let BeerAdvocate do the talking for me, because I'd be here all day if I had to do a detailed list:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/place/city/65/
NB: many of the micros here are very hop-forward, as they all sprouted up during the "hop all the things" renaissance of late.There's more, but my larger point is: if anyone ever happens through here, feel free to give me a shout! There's fun to be had.
EDIT: formatting; added Rye 51
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